SINGAPORE: Gold struggled near a 2-1/2-week low on Monday, retaining losses from the prior three sessions, after US payrolls data failed to provide clarity on the timing of a Federal Reserve rate hike.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,123.15 an ounce by 0637 GMT. The metal had fallen to $1,116.75 on Friday, the lowest since Aug. 19, posting its second straight weekly loss.

The Government of Bolivia announced that no Bolivian police officer had been involved in an armed attack at the airport of Juliaca in Peru, in which robbers made off with 123kg of gold, around $1.9 million and more than 9 million Peruvian soles ($2.3 million) in cash.

“After an exhaustive revision of all Bolivian police personnel, it was established that the names mentioned by the Peruvian daily, La Republica, did not match any member of Bolivian security forces,” Xinhua quoted an official press release from the Bolivian government on Tuesday.

Since the attack on August 28, Peruvian media had published information about the alleged assailants, who used tear gas to overpower guards and rob an armored truck and aircraft loaded with gold.

Six suspects were arrested on Sunday in the town of Canchi Grande, near Juliaca, with about 59kg of gold and $300,000 worth of cash being retrieved.

La Republica mentioned that one of those arrested was a presumed Bolivian policemen named as Juan Chirino Vargas. This prompted the Bolivian Ministry of Government to criticise the leak and to ask the newspaper to manage information in a “balanced, responsible and professional manner”.

Despite the Bolivian denial of his identity, Vargas remains in custody along with Zacarias Yana Quispe and Miguel Angel Perez Tirado. The three other suspects have been released.

After more than ten years of development, China’s gold market has become the world’s most fast-growing market with huge potential for growth. At present, China’s identified gold resource has reached 9,816 tons, ranking world’s second, according to a forum on gold and mining held recently.

Since 21st century, China’s gold industry has achieved leap-forward development in exploration, mining, exchange, design and other aspects, said Song Xin, president of China Gold Association at the forum held in Zhaoyuan, eastern China’s Shandong province on Aug. 28.

In 2014, the country’s gold output reached 451.80 tons and remained the world’s largest gold producer for eight consecutive years; the gold consumption totaled 886.09 tons in the same year.

Data released by the People’s Bank of China on Aug. 14 shows that China’s bullion holding stood at 1,677 tons at the end of July, accounting for 1.7 percent of foreign exchange reserve and ranking fifth in terms of gold reserve, following the United States, Germany, Italy and France.

Gold futures dropped for a third straight session to end at a one-week low Wednesday, as investors opted for the rising U.S. equities amid some upbeat factory orders data, and with the dollar trending higher against some major currencies.

In some upbeat economic news from the U.S., manufactured durable goods orders rose more than expected in July, downplaying concerns over the health of the economy.

The encouraging data could also push the Fed Reserve toward a rate hike, which would help the dollar to strengthen.

Markets in the U.S. strengthened but have since moved back after opening sharply higher. The strength on Wall Street stems from traders looking to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the downturn seen on Tuesday.